The candle smoke had barely settled in the Globe pub, Edmonton, when Bruce Dyer found out he was on the verge of a professional debut for his boyhood club.
He had just finished celebrating his 18th birthday and, four days later, was stepping out onto the Vicarage Road turf in Watford’s 1-0 win over Birmingham City.
Less than a year on, he would move south and join Crystal Palace, becoming the first £1m+ teenage signing in English football.
That year, Palace won the 1993/94 First Division title and secured promotion to the Premier League, with a then-19-year-old Dyer having featured 11 times since joining.